Twitter has Started Giving Abusive Users a Time Out

Twitter has announced some updates that are designed to make Twitter a safer place. These improvements build upon the work that Twitter began in November of 2016. One of the most interesting updates involves a “time out” for abusive users. Twitter explained their motivations this way:

Making Twitter a safer place is our primary focus. We stand for freedom of expression and people being able to see all sides of any topic. That’s put in jeopardy when abuse and harassment stifle and silence those voices. We won’t tolerate it and we’re launching new efforts to stop it.

Twitter announced three changes. One was to stop the creation of new abusive accounts. Twitter is now taking steps to identify people who have been permanently suspended and will stop them from creating new accounts.

Another change is a “safer search”, which “removes Tweets that contain potentially sensitive content and Tweets from blocked and muted accounts from search results.” Twitter says that content will still be discoverable – if you want to find it. Tweets from people you blocked or muted will not automatically appear when you search for something on Twitter.

Personally, I’m a big fan of that new update. It takes away the instant gratification that some people appear to get by flooding a hashtag on a topic they disagree with with incoherent rage and images that Twitter would describe as “sensitive content”. At least, that’s what I hope the “safer search” will do.

The third change involves abusive or low-quality Tweets. Twitter has been working on identifying those kinds of Tweets and collapsing them. The result is that you will only see the most relevant replies and Tweets. Again, you can go dig up the Tweets you missed if you want to.

The most interesting update, in my opinion, involves an actual “time out” for people who break Twitter’s terms of service. Mashable reported that some users are receiving notices that Twitter temporarily limited their account features. The full features will be restored after 12 hours, and that countdown does not start until the user clicks a button. In the meantime, only that user’s followers will be able to see his or her Twitter activity.